Lady and Queen and Mystery
And very Regent of the untroubled sky,
Whom in a dream St.
Hilda did
And heard a woodland music passing by:
You shall receive me when the clouds are
With evening and the sheep attain the fold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.
Steep are the seas and savaging and
In broken waters terrible to try;
And vast against the winter night the wold,
And harbourless for any sail to lie.
But you shall lead me to the lights, and
Shall hymn you in a harbour story told.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.
Help of the half-defeated,
House of gold,
Shrine of the Sword, and Tower of Ivory;
Splendour apart, supreme and aureoled,
The Battler's vision and the World's reply.
You shall restore me,
O my last Ally,
To vengence and the glories of the bold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.
Prince of the degradations, bought and sold,
These verses, written in your crumbling sty,
Proclaim the faith that I have held and
And publish that in which I mean to die.
